Unintended Consequences

"I don't understand," Harper repeated, hating the whining quality her voice was taking on. "How is everything gone? He owned half the town."

"Your father was always a big risk taker, Harper," Mr. Morton tried to explain as they met the next morning. "All his life, he made things happen. He was one of the luckiest men I've ever known. Things always worked out for him…until the last couple of years." The man huffed a huge sigh. "He robbed Peter to pay Paul, basically, on that Point Lookout deal. He was convinced a resort there would take off and be worth it, that the mortgages on the various buildings and businesses were temporary. It's how he'd always done things."

Mr. Morton's brow furrowed and he took a sip from the small water glass on his desk. "But this time, well, obviously it didn't. He started getting foreclosed on. At first, it was just a few small properties, so he wasn't too worried. He chided me when I expressed my concerns. 'I've got the Midas touch, Gordy, don't be such a